The Double Agent
by Jack Stryker
Summary: Sequel to Somebody to Love. A meerkat from another colony is sent to infiltrate the jungle oasis, but he soon finds out something that gives him a change of heart.
1. An Old Enemy

The Lion King and all of its characters belong to Disney. All characters in this story, that don't appear in the movies belong to me. Blah blah blah.

**The Double Agent**

By Jack Stryker

**Chapter 1 – An Old Enemy **

---

Takata, a meerkat sentry; stood up on his rock, looking out for predators. After a while, he yawned and sat down. With a heavy sigh, he put his head in the palm of his right hand; the only hand he had left. A year ago, his left arm was bitten off at the elbow, by a hyena. Ever since that day, Takata had been depressed; not only because he lost his arm, but because that was the last he'd ever seen of his family. Now he was living with another meerkat colony that had taken pity on him and allowed him to live with them. He missed his real family.

Soon, Takata heard a voice behind him say, "Uhh… excuse me. You know where I can find some water around here?"

"Oh, sure." Takata replied, turning around, "There's a water hole just a few…"

Takata then opened his eyes wide and gasped when he realized that he wasn't talking to another meerkat. It was a hyena.

"Hy-hy-hy-…" he stammered.

"Hi yourself." said the hyena, "Now where did you say that water hole was?"

The hyena had just barely finished his question when Takata fainted dead away.

"Oh dear."

---

Meanwhile, Kibaya; the colony's leader, made his way through the tunnels, making sure everything was going the way he wanted.

"Dig faster!" he shouted to the others, "You won't have all day when the hyenas come!"

Soon, he passed a group of meerkats; who were setting up sticks.

"Put your backs into it!" he ordered, "You want to get eaten?"

Kibaya rubbed three scars on his face as he continued on his way.

_'Some day,'_ he thought, _'that meerkat will pay for this.'_

Suddenly, he overheard a conversation going on outside.

"I was asking him for directions to find some water and he just fainted."

"Well, duh." a female voice replied, "You were asking a **meerkat!**"

"But we gave up eating meerkats."

"Yeah, but obviously **he** didn't know that." another male voice said.

Curious, Kibaya climbed out of the burrow and looked around outside. He soon found to his surprise, three hyenas talking to each other in front of an unconscious Takata. It was Akili, Brutus, and Bob; the same hyenas that had fought against Timon's colony and lost.

"Let's just keep looking." said Akili, "We're bound to find water somewhere."

"Excuse me." Kibaya said, as the hyenas started to leave.

The hyenas turned around.

"I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. You say you've given up eating meerkats?"

"Oh yeah." Akili replied, "See, we tried to take on a meerkat colony that was living at this jungle oasis, but they outsmarted us."

"Yeah, that Timon got us pretty good." said Bob, "Like how he lured you into that big hole, Brutus. And when he had that fast guy lure you to a snare trap, Akili. And then all those pups started hitting you and…"

"**BOB!**" Brutus and Akili shouted at him.

"Shutting up."

"Anyway," Akili continued, "a friend of ours wanted revenge on their leader, Timon, for killing his brother. But our friend wound up getting killed himself, and we were forced to leave. Afterwards we realized that our 'friend' was a jerk and none of us really ever liked the taste of meerkat anyway. So, we decided to give up meerkats and stick to bigger animals."

"I see. And where might this jungle oasis be?"

"It's a couple miles that way." Brutus said, pointing with his paw, "Why?"

"Oh… that Timon person you mentioned, he sounds like an old friend of mine and I'd really like to visit him."

"Whatever." said Akili, "Well, we better get moving if we're gonna keep from dying of thirst."

"See ya." Bob said to Kibaya.

And with that, the hyenas left.

"Jungle oasis, huh?" Kibaya muttered, as he rubbed his scars again, "So that's where you and your gang live now, is it? Well, you may have eluded us once, Timon, but this time we **will** take you down and I **will** have my revenge!"

(Several years ago)

_Kibaya climbed out of the tunnel and looked around for bugs to eat. Soon, he noticed a scorpion wandering by._

_"Aha!"_

_He ran up to the scorpion and grabbed it by the tail. But just as he was about to bite its stinger off, he heard a voice nearby shout, "Hey, that's __**my**__ scorpion! I saw it first!"_

_Kibaya looked up and saw young Timon approaching him._

_"Yeah? Well I __**caught**__ it first." Kibaya retorted, "And __**you're**__ trespassing in __**my**__ gang's territory." _

_"Oh yeah?"_

_"Yeah."_

_Kibaya then looked behind Timon and said, "Oh, it's okay, Dad. I can handle this myself."_

_Timon looked, only to have Kibaya kick him in the stomach. As Kibaya laughed, Timon angrily jumped on him. The two pups began fighting until Kibaya had Timon pinned to the ground. But Timon managed to get one hand free and swiped at Kibaya's face. Kibaya screamed in pain and put his hands on his face. Timon's claws had scratched him good, leaving three scars across his face. Timon then pushed Kibaya off him with his feet and stood up._

_"Timon!" a voice called out._

_"Coming, Pop!" Timon shouted back._

_Timon picked up the scorpion, bit its stinger off, and spit it out. Kibaya sat up and looked at his hand; which was now stained with blood. As Timon started to leave, Kibaya glared at him with a look of rage on his face._

_"'Timon', is it? Well, Timon, you haven't seen the last of me! I never forget a name or a face. Mark my words, some day I'll get you for this!"_

_Kibaya got up and ran back to his colony's tunnel entrance. Timon watched Kibaya leave, then started walking away; until he ran right into his uncle. Max and Buzz had seen the two pups fighting from a distance and were coming to Timon's defense._

_"What the heck do you think you were doing?" said Max, "Do you have any idea what the other meerkats in that gang could've done to you if they found you in their territory?"_

_Timon just looked down in shame, only to have Max lift his head back up._

_"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Mister! If their sentries found you…"_

_"Uhh… Max, let __**me**__ handle this." Buzz said, "You go check on the tunnel exits or something."_

_Max sighed heavily and walked away. Buzz waited until Max was out of sight, then turned to Timon and let out a sigh of his own._

_"Just what am I gonna do with you?" _

_"I'm sorry, Pop."_

_"Come on, let's go home. We'll talk about this later."_

_As they headed back home, Buzz glanced down at Timon; who was still looking down in shame. He then heard Timon sniffle and noticed a tear fall from his eye. Buzz stopped and knelt in front of him._

_"Timon, it always pains me to admit this," he said, wiping the tears from his son's eyes, "but your uncle's right. You may have gotten lucky this time, but that doesn't mean you should keep it up. Next time, you might get spotted by one of their sentries."_

_"But __**you're**__ not afraid of anything, Pop."_

_"Not true. They may call me fearless, but there is one thing I'm afraid of. And it's not rival gangs or predators themselves. I'm afraid of __**losing you**__ to them. You're my only pup, Timon. You mean everything to me. That's why I want you to promise me that you'll stay away from that other gang from now on. I want you to spare me the fate of losing you."_

_"Okay, Pop." Timon replied with a nod, "I promise."_

_"Oh, and one other thing."_

_Buzz took a quick look around to make sure nobody would hear him. _

"_Not bad, Son." he whispered, "Not bad at all."_

_---_

(Years later)

_Kali, Kibaya's brother and second in command, took a look around the area._

_"It's awfully quiet here." he reported, "And not a sentry in sight."_

_"Good." Kibaya replied, "They must be having one of their meetings. We'll catch them completely by surprise."_

_Kibaya's gang was gathered outside of the hideout where Timon's colony lived. Kibaya turned to the others in his gang; who were prepared to fight._

_"Alright, everyone," he said, "kill everybody else that you find, but bring the one named Timon to me. I want him alive, so that I can deal with him myself. Clear?"_

_"Yes, sir!" the other meerkats responded._

_"Alright then. Ready, charge!"_

_Kali and the rest of the meerkats ran towards the tunnel entrances, while Kibaya watched._

_"Soon." Kibaya said to himself, "Very soon."_

_After waiting nearly an hour, Kibaya walked to one of the tunnel entrances and climbed inside. He was then surprised to find his gang members standing dumbfounded in an empty meerkat burrow._

_"There's nobody here!" said Kali._

_"What?!"_

_"We've searched every tunnel, twice, and haven't found anyone." another meerkat added, "They must've all flown the coop."_

_Kibaya's face turned red with rage and he clenched his fists. He then pulled one of his fists back and punched that meerkat in the face, knocking him on the ground. He stood there, panting for a few seconds, then turned to Kali and said, "We're leaving."_

_As Kibaya's colony headed back to their home, Kibaya raised his fist in the air and shouted, "Timon, I'll find you yet!"_

(Present)

"Hey, Takata, wake up!"

Takata slowly opened his eyes and found Kibaya and Kali standing over him.

"Kibaya! Kali!" he said, "I'm still alive?"

"Yep." said Kali, "Apparently, those hyenas you encountered are no longer meerkat-eaters."

"…Really?"

Kibaya nodded.

"I just had a conversation with them while you were passed out and none of them even scratched me." he said.

Kali took Takata's one hand and pulled him up onto his feet.

"By the way, Takata," Kibaya continued, "I was wondering something. Are you happy here? Living underground, hiding from predators and searching for scarce food?"

Takata gave it a moment's thought.

"To tell you the truth, I really don't like it at all." he replied, "In fact, my father used to say that tunnels are for cowards. And I always did look up to him."

"Well, Takata, you may not have to live that way for long. You see, I've just been told of a lush jungle oasis just a few miles away. The kind of place with lots of exotic grubs, water, shade, and where no predators dare to go."

"There's just one small problem though." said Kali, "It's already been taken by another gang of meerkats. The same gang that we've been after for years."

"Yes, but once I take out their leader," Kibaya continued, "That'll make me their new leader. And then the oasis will be ours."

"Sounds good." said Takata.

"Excellent. Then come, Takata. Let's begin with our plan."

Takata followed Kibaya and Kali as they set out to find the jungle oasis. Shortly along the way, Takata heard a voice cry out, "Help!"

Takata stopped and turned his head. In the distance he saw another meerkat sentry, scrambling to get away from an eagle. His leg was badly hurt from the eagle attack and he was having difficulty getting away.

"Eagle!" the sentry cried, "I'm wounded! Help me!"

"Come on, Takata." Kali said, motioning for him to follow them.

"But… shouldn't we help him?"

"Nah, he's just a sentry." said Kibaya, "We've got like fifty of them. Come on."

Takata dropped his jaw in shock, but then closed his mouth and nodded. With that, the three meerkats continued on their way.

"No, please!" cried the wounded sentry, "Don't leave me! Please! **NO!**"

Takata didn't want to leave that sentry to die, nor did he feel like attacking another meerkat colony; even if they had much better living conditions than his did. But he had to follow Kibaya's orders in order to stay alive. Others in the gang had defied Kibaya in the past. Some even tried to overthrow him. And they all ended up paying for it with their lives. Takata didn't want to join those fallen members of the gang, but made a solemn vow that their wrongful deaths would be avenged some day.


	2. A New Relative

**Chapter 2 – A New Relative **

---

Kali peered over the edge of the shore by the waterfall.

"I think we've found it!" he said, pointing.

Kibaya and Takata looked. At the bottom of the waterfall was the oasis. They could faintly see a small family of meerkats playing together in the water below.

"Yes!" said Kibaya, "This must be it!"

Kibaya turned to Takata.

"Alright, Takata, here's the plan. You go in there and get them to accept you into their gang. Then I want you to find out as much as you can about the place and their leader. And if he's still alive, find out anything you can on a certain meerkat named Timon. Kali will meet you in a couple days to brief you on the rest of the plan."

"Okay, but how am I gonna-"

Before Takata could finish his question, Kibaya pushed him off the edge, causing him to fall screaming down the waterfall.

"Did he ever tell you that he was acrophobic?" Kali asked Kibaya, "Or that he couldn't swim?"

"Yes." Kibaya responded, "That's exactly why I chose him for the job. Just watch and learn."

---

"That's it, Son." said Swifty, "Just a little further."

Little Gus swam as fast as he could towards his father's arms, until he finally made it. Swifty then picked him up and hugged him.

"All right!" he said, "See? I knew you could do it."

Sherri; who was a few feet away, waded up to them.

"You're such a big boy now!" she said, stroking his hair.

Suddenly, the three of them heard a loud splash. They all looked in the direction of the sound.

"What was that, Papa?" asked Gus.

Soon afterwards, they saw Takata emerge from the water, splashing and trying his best to keep his head over the water. It wasn't long, however, until he fell beneath the water. Swifty put Gus down on the bank.

"Stay here with your mother." he said.

Swifty then swam as fast as he could, towards Takata. He grabbed Takata, pulled his head above the water, and made his way back to the bank. Despite the added weight, Swifty was able to get back onto the land with Takata in record time. He laid the unconscious meerkat down on the ground.

"Who is he?" asked Sherri.

"Where'd his arm go?" asked Gus.

"You got me." Swifty replied, "I don't think he's one of us."

"Well, neither was Zina." Sherri replied.

"Point noted. Maybe we should get Timon."

Meanwhile, at the top of the waterfall, Kibaya chuckled as he and Kali continued watching.

"Looks like my plan is working so far." he said, "Now let's get home and prepare for the attack."

---

"And again, breathe in." said Zina.

Timon and the other meerkats in Zina's yoga class all breathed in.

"And out."

The meerkats exhaled. They were all lying down on the ground with the soles of their feet together, their knees bent out to the sides, and their eyes closed. As they lay there, none of them heard Pumbaa walk up to them and plop down next to Timon. After a few seconds though, Timon slowly opened his eyes. Unfortunately, Pumbaa was so close that Timon could only see Pumbaa's eyes and snout; which appeared to be much bigger than usual. Terrified, Timon screamed and jumped backwards. The others looked up in surprise.

"Hey, Timon." said Pumbaa.

Timon panted a bit until he finally realized that it was Pumbaa.

"Jeez, Pumbaa!" he cried, "You almost made me jump outta my fur! Can't ya see we're tryin' to relax here?"

"Sorry, Timon. Didn't mean to scare you like that."

Timon sighed and said, "Well, I'm sorry for shouting, but don't get so close next time."

"Okay, I won't."

With that, Pumbaa turned and started to leave. Timon lay back down and assumed the position again. Not long afterwards though, Pumbaa came back in a flash.

"Oh! I almost forgot why I came here!" he said, startling Timon again.

Feeling a bit annoyed, Timon took a deep breath, then said, "Yes, Pumbaa?"

"Swifty asked me to get you, cause he says there's something by the waterfall that you need to see."

Timon got up with a sigh and said, "Excuse me, everyone."

Then he climbed onto Pumbaa; who took Timon to the waterfall. Upon arriving, Pumbaa came to a stop and Timon jumped off him.

"Alright, what have we here?" he said.

Timon walked up to Takata and took a look at him.

"Friend of yours?" he asked Swifty.

"We just met." Swifty replied, "Kinda."

Timon checked Takata's vital signs.

"Is he dead?" Gus asked.

"I don't think so." Timon replied, "But he looks like he could use a hand!"

Timon chuckled, but stopped when he realized that no one else was laughing at his joke. Clearing his throat, he walked over to the nearby lake and scooped up some water with his hands. Then he went back to Takata.

"Well, this worked on Simba once." he said, "Let's see if it'll work on this guy."

Timon moved his hands apart, dropping the water onto Takata's face. Takata stirred and slowly started to wake up.

"Are you alright?" Pumbaa asked.

"I… I think so." Takata responded, wiping his face with his one hand.

Takata slowly got up on his feet and glanced at his surroundings.

"Where am I?" he asked, "Is… is this Heaven?"

"Not really." said Sherri, "Though some of us seem to think so."

"Well, I think it's time for introductions." said Timon, "I'm Timon, the leader of this colony. And you'd be?"

_'So __**that's**__ Timon, and __**he's**__ the leader, huh?'_ Takata thought.

Just as Takata opened his mouth to speak, a voice nearby asked, "What's going on here?"

Everyone looked and noticed Zina approaching. Takata took a good look at her and gasped. Zina looked back at him and let out a gasp of her own.

"Takata?"

"Zina?"

"You're alive!" they both cried together.

Takata and Zina ran to each other and hugged.

"Zina!" cried Takata, "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Uh… Zina?" Timon said, tapping her shoulder, "Is there something you're not telling me here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Zina said, pulling away, "Timon, this is Takata. My brother."

Everyone else gasped.

"…Your brother?!" cried Timon, "But I thought he was dead!"

"So did I!" Zina said to Takata, "What happened?"

"Did you tell them about our hyena encounter?" Takata asked.

Zina nodded.

"She didn't want to talk about what she saw before she escaped." said Pumbaa, "Not that we blame her."

"Well, like Zina, I did manage to escape. Even though I lost half of my arm in the process. Unfortunately though, our dad… wasn't as lucky."

Timon put his arm around Zina as she looked down at the ground in sorrow.

"The first time I tried to escape from the hyena's jaws," Takata continued, "he closed them on my left arm."

"And that's how you lost it?" Pumbaa asked.

"Yep."

"That was what I saw after I ran from the hyena." Zina muttered, "I looked back and saw Takata's severed arm fall on the ground. At that point, I thought for sure that both he and Dad were dead!"

"So, how'd ya escape?" Timon asked Takata.

"Well, it was pretty gross, but I was mad at the hyena and didn't want to die. So I bit the hyena's tongue. Then while he was screaming in pain, I jumped out of his mouth. It wasn't easy, but after a while I was finally able to lose him and stop the bleeding wound. Ever since then… I've been… uhh…"

"Looking for me?" Zina asked.

Takata hesitated, then nodded.

"Well, I think you can rest easy now." Pumbaa said, "Now that you and your sister are reunited, and that the hyena's dead."

Takata's eyes opened wide.

"What?!" he cried, "He's **dead?!** Are you serious?"

"It's true." said Zina, "He found me again a few months ago and tried to eat me again. But Timon and Pumbaa rescued me sent the hyena falling to his death. And now Timon's my loving mate."

Takata was speechless.

"Why don'tcha come with us?" said Timon, "We'll show you around and tell ya all about it on the way."

"Okay, sure. Sounds good."

"Pumbaa,"

Pumbaa lowered his head and said, "Hop on, Takata."

"Uhh… thanks." Takata said, as he climbed onto Pumbaa's back.

Zina and Timon climbed on after him. As Pumbaa took them away, Takata pinched himself to make sure all this wasn't just a wonderful dream. Having learned that Timon avenged Takata's father, rescued his sister, married her, and that she seemed to be happy with Timon, Takata began to wonder if he should go through with Kibaya's plan.

---

To be Continued


	3. Takata's Dilemma

**Chapter 3 – Takata's Dilemma**

---

Takata sat in front of a pool of water, looking at his reflection.

_'What should I do?!'_ he thought.

Two days had passed since he arrived at the oasis. He'd gotten along well with Pumbaa and all of the other meerkats, but it wouldn't be long until Kibaya's gang made their move. Now Takata was faced with a major dilemma. He could either allow Kibaya to take over the jungle oasis, possibly resulting in Timon's death, or warn Timon about what was really going on, thereby thwarting the invasion but possibly resulting in his own death at the hands of Kibaya.

_'I don't want to die like the ones who defied Kibaya, but Timon killed the hyena that ate dad, bit my arm off, and tried to eat me and Zina.'_

The one-armed meerkat sat there for a long while, debating on which leader he should serve: Timon or Kibaya. Until he remembered the day he entered Kibaya's colony.

(One year ago)

_Takata panted as he emerged from behind a boulder, and looked around. To his relief, the hyena was gone. Holding a leaf against the stump of his left forearm, Takata slowly walked away. It wasn't long however, until he fell over from exhaustion. As he lay on the ground, panting, he could faintly hear the sound of footsteps. Glancing in the direction of the footsteps, he saw a meerkat's feet moving towards him and stopping in front of him._

_"Z-Zina?" he stammered._

_The other meerkat bent down and asked, "Are you alright? What happened to you?"_

_It wasn't Zina, but at least it was a friendly face._

_"A hyena… bit my arm off." Takata muttered, "He also… ate my dad and… probably my sister too."_

_The other meerkat put Takata's remaining arm around her shoulder and helped him up onto his feet._

_"Come on." she said, "Let's get you somewhere safe, where you can rest a while."_

_After a much-needed rest in one of the tunnels, Takata gradually woke up. He glanced at the stump of his left arm; which had now stopped bleeding._

_"Good morning."_

_Takata turned towards the voice. It was the same girl that helped him outside and invited him into her home. She was now holding a walnut shell full of water; which she handed to him. Gratefully, he accepted it and took a drink._

_"Thank you, umm…"_

_"Call me Lila."_

_"Okay. I'm Takata. Thank you for letting me into your burrow, Lila, but I don't think I'd be a very good digger without my arm. Besides, I'm not sure if your leader would approve either."_

_Lila chuckled and said, "Of course she would. You're looking at her right now."_

_"Oh, __**you're**__ the leader here?"_

_Lila nodded._

_"And if digging isn't your forte, then I wouldn't force you to dig. However, I do have need of another sentry. If you're interested."_

_Takata was amazed at what a nice person Lila was. Welcoming a complete stranger into her home, taking care of him, and even offering him membership into her colony._

_"Sure." he said with a smile, "I'll take the job."_

(Present)

With that flashback, Timon won the debate.

"Why should I continue serving Kibaya?" Takata said to himself, "After all, he's the one who killed Lila, along with those other pure-hearted meerkats; who were loyal to her and stood up to Kibaya. Besides, I owe Timon big for the things he's done for me."

Takata stood up.

"I'll tell him the truth **immediately!**"

With that, he went off to find Timon. He'd only gone a short distance when he heard a voice whisper, "Hey, Takata!"

"Huh?" he said, turning his head.

"Over here!"

Takata moved towards the voice until he found Kali taking cover in the bushes.

"Kali! What're you-?"

"Listen up!" Kali said, "Here's what we're gonna do."

---

As Pumbaa started drinking from the pool of water, he overheard a conversation gong on a few feet away.

"No, that wasn't part of the plan."

"Well, it is now."

"He doesn't have to die."

"Kibaya wants him dead. And if you value your life, along with the rest of your limbs, you will not defy him."

"What about my sister?"

"We'll guarantee her safety. **If** you play your cards right."

"Alright, when do we make our move?"

"Tonight, while everyone's asleep. We'll meet you then."

Pumbaa curiously moved away from the lake, towards the conversation. He could only barely make out Takata's side of it, but suspected there was something funny going on. Soon, he saw Takata come towards him.

"Oh, hey, Pumbaa." he said.

"Who were you talking to over there?" Pumbaa asked.

"Uhh… talking to?"

"Yeah. I distinctly heard you talking to someone."

"Oh…"

Takata hesitated.

"I… I guess talking to myself is becoming a bad habit."

"You were talking to yourself?"

"Yeah." Takata said with a shrug, "I think… all that trauma from watching my dad get eaten and losing my arm… its been making me delirious."

"Uh-huh…"

"I should probably get some fresh air. Yeah, that'll help."

Takata walked away until he was out of sight.

"Hmmm… something's not right about this." Pumbaa said to himself.

---

Takata walked on, looking at the ground beneath his feet. Along the way, he heard Zina giggling behind a log. He climbed up the log as best as he could, and peeked over the top. In the grass behind the log, he saw Timon and Zina lying there in a loving embrace, cuddling one another.

"I love you." said Zina.

"Oh yeah? Well, I love **you**! So there!" Timon jokingly replied.

Takata climbed back down, turned around, and sighed heavily as he sat down on the ground. He buried his face in his hand.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" he muttered under his breath.

---

To be Continued


	4. Enemies Reunited

**Chapter 4 – Enemies Reunited **

**---**

Takata walked up to Timon; who was asleep with Zina on Pumbaa's stomach.

"Hey, Timon." he said, nudging him, "Wake up, Timon."

Timon moaned as he slowly woke up.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "Thirsty? Bad dream? Can't find the latrine?"

"No, Timon. There's uh… something I gotta show you."

"Can't it wait till morning?"

"No. I gotta show you now. It's urgent."

"Figures."

Timon yawned, stretched, and jumped off Pumbaa.

"Alright, lead the way." he said, "But this better be important."

Takata lead Timon through the oasis, to an area that was far away from any of the other meerkats.

"Right there." he said.

Timon looked around.

"I don't see anyth-"

Suddenly, Timon was struck in the back of his head with a stick, and knocked unconscious. Kali, who was holding the stick, tossed it aside as Kibaya emerged from his hiding place.

"Well done, gentlemen." he said.

"Should we finish him off now?" Kali asked.

"No." Kibaya replied, "I have something special planned for him."

---

Timon gradually woke up and found himself lying face down on the shore at the top of a waterfall. He tried to get up, but found to his surprise that he couldn't move. A vine was tied around his wrists, and another was tied around his ankles. The other end of each vine was tied around a rock. As he helplessly struggled against his restraints, Timon noticed Kibaya standing in front of him. Timon slowly looked up until he could see Kibaya's face.

"So, we finally meet again." Kibaya said.

"Who are you?" Timon shouted, "Whattaya want with me?"

"You don't remember these?"

Kibaya knelt in front of Timon and leaned forward, showing him the scars on his face. Then Timon recognized him.

"You!"

"That's right. I'm that pup whose territory you invaded, whose lunch you stole, and whose face you scarred."

"You sure like to hold a grudge, don't you?"

"Oh, it's not just that. You see, members of my gang, including Takata here are getting tired of having to dig tunnels all day and dodge predators while trying to find bugs to eat. So after hearing about this wonderful place, I decided to take it for myself."

Unable to believe what he'd just heard, Timon turned his head to Takata; who was standing nearby, next to Kali.

"You're… with **his** gang?!" he blustered.

Takata looked down and nodded.

"Takata's told me a bit about you as well." Kibaya continued, "I must say I'm quite unimpressed with the way you earned your title. For you see, I **killed** my gang's leader and took her place."

"That couldn't have won you the popular vote." Timon replied.

"Oh, indeed it didn't. A few members of my gang even dared to say that I wasn't qualified to lead. After I showed them what I could do with my claws however, they didn't say much. Never said anything again, as a matter of fact!"

"You sure are evil, you know that?"

"Why, thank you! Everyone loves a compliment. But enough talk. Now it's time for you to die."

Kibaya nodded to Kali; who walked up to Timon with a leaf in his hands.

"You dirty, backstabbing…!" Timon snarled at Takata.

"I'd save my breath if I were you." Kali said, as he tied the leaf around Timon's mouth, "You'll need it where you're going."

"Au revoir, Timon." Kibaya said, "My regards to your father and uncle. Takata, do the deed. Kali, lets head home and rally the troops."

Kali nodded and he and Kibaya walked away. As they left, Takata picked up the rock and walked up to Timon.

"Sorry, Timon." he said, "I hope you're a better swimmer than I am."

Timon shouted a muffled angry reply back at him, as he felt Takata's foot on his side. For a moment, Takata seemed to hesitate. Timon had barely a few seconds to wonder what was taking so long, when Takata finally threw the rock over the falls and pushed Timon into the water with his foot.

---

To be Continued


	5. An Unlikely Ally

**Chapter 5 – An Unlikely Ally**

---

Timon let out a muffled scream as he fell down the waterfall. Then just before landing in the water, he quickly breathed in as hard as he could and held his breath. He started sinking fast with the rock weighing him down. Desperately, Timon continued struggling to break his restraints. Then to his surprise, the vine on his wrists suddenly broke apart. Astonished by his apparent strength, he brought his arms out in front of him and stared at them. Realizing that he had little time however, he quickly tore the leaf off his mouth and cut the vines around his ankles with his claws until his legs were finally free. Then he swam to the surface as fast as he could. Upon making it to the surface, Timon gasped heavily for air and swam towards the shore. With his last ounce of strength, he climbed out of the water and collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

"Kibaya!" he panted, "…Takata!"

Timon clenched his fist in anger and slowly started to get up. But soon afterwards, he fell back down and closed his eyes. He was dead tired.

---

The next morning, Nina knelt beside a log with a leaf in one hand. With her other hand, she reached into a hole in the log and started pulling bugs out and placing them on the leaf. Soon, she noticed Pumbaa and Zina approaching.

"Morning, Zina." she said, "Morning, Pumbaa. You guys hungry?"

"No, thank you, Ms. Nina." said Pumbaa, "We've already eaten."

"Nina, do you know where Timon is?" Zina asked, "He was with us last night, but now we can't find him."

"Hmmm… come to think of it," Nina replied, "I haven't seen him either."

Nina then noticed Takata walking by.

"Hey, Takata," she called to him, "have you seen your brother-in-law?"

"Huh? Oh, Timon." Takata replied, "Uh… no. I uh… haven't seen him since last night."

Zina sighed heavily.

"Guess we should keep looking for him." she said, "I hope he's alright."

"Yeah, me too." said Takata.

---

Bob cautiously walked towards the jungle oasis. As he neared a large pool of water, he took a quick look around to make sure nobody else was in sight. Once he was reassured that he was alone, he walked up to the pool and took a short drink.

"Ahh!" he sighed with pleasure, "Now that's refreshing water!"

As he started to leave, Bob suddenly caught a familiar scent.

"What's that smell?" he wondered aloud to himself, "That smells vaguely familiar."

Bob sniffed around, tracking down the source of the smell, until he finally found it and gasped. Lying there in front of him, was an unconscious Timon.

"It's Timon! Hey, he doesn't look so good."

Bob poked Timon with his paw.

"Hey, you awake?"

Bob waited, but Timon didn't respond.

"Aw, gee, I guess he's dead. Well, if he's dead, then I guess he won't mind if I eat him. Course I never actually tried meerkat before, so I don't know if I'll like him or not. Maybe just a taste."

Bob bent down and licked Timon from his head, down his back, to the tip of his tail. What he didn't notice, however, was Timon springing back awake. Timon blinked a few times in surprise as Bob savored Timon's taste. Bob paused a bit, thinking about it and still not noticing that Timon was wide-awake. He started to take another lick, but Timon quickly grabbed Bob's tongue. Astonished, Bob stared at Timon; who was now holding his tongue and glaring at him.

"Oh, sowwy! I thithn't thow you wo sill alie!"

"What do you think **you're** doing here?" Timon asked, still holding the hyena's tongue.

"We, I wo thithy an jo wahed-"

"Hold it! Stop!"

Timon let go of Bob's tongue and said, "Okay, start over."

"Well, I was thirsty and just wanted a drink of water. I know you ordered me and my friends to leave and all, but I was really thirsty and the only other water hole I knew of was pretty far away. Anyway, I just came to get a drink of water and I was gonna leave afterwards, but then I found you and…"

_'Jeez, and I thought __**Nala**__ talked too much!'_ Timon thought, as the hyena continued babbling on, _'This guy's like… the thing that wouldn't shut up!'_

"…so I figured I'd just have a taste and see if I'd like it or not. And that's when you woke up."

Timon paused for a moment, then asked, "Are you quite done?"

"Yeah. I'm done."

"Good. You think you can help me get to our meeting place? I got a little score to settle."

"Sure, sure, I can do that. Just climb on my back, direct me to it, and I'll take you there."

Bob lowered his head and Timon walked towards him. Then Bob suddenly lifted his head and said, "Wait a minute… what's in it for me?"

Timon gave it a brief moment's thought.

"I won't tell Simba that you came back and tried to eat me?"

Bob hastily lowered his head back down and said, "Okay, deal. Hop on."

---

To be Continued


	6. Exile

Author's note: I'm afraid the rest of this story is going to take quite a while. You see, when I write a story, I usually write out the whole thing into a big rough draft and then divide it into chapters. Then I edit each chapter and upload it when it's ready. For this story, I still haven't finished the first draft yet. But I have never left a story unfinished and I never will. I don't know when, but I will finish this story.

Oh, and while I appreciate all reviews, I'd especially like to thank my two best customers, hahajopo and SunRise19. hahajopo, your comments really meant a lot to me and made me feel better as an author. You too, SunRise19. Plus, I was quite flattered that you actually took the time to review each and every chapter. Thank you both for your reviews.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 6 – Exile**

---

At the meeting place, Pumbaa and all the meerkats returned after having searched everywhere for Timon.

"Any sign of him?" Nina asked.

Everyone else shook their heads.

"We've checked all of his usual hangout points; including the hot spring, the latrine, and every hammock," said Swifty, "but we still can't find him."

"Where could he be?!" cried Zina.

Suddenly, everyone heard a loud diabolical laugh.

"You will never find him here!" a voice said.

Everyone looked and saw Kibaya standing there, holding Timon's stick. Next to him was Kali, and behind them were all the other meerkats in Kibaya's gang.

"Who are you?" Zina asked.

"I am Kibaya, your new leader."

"What?!"

"You got a hearing problem, lady?" said Kali, "Kibaya here is your new leader."

"That's right. Your precious Timon is dead."

Pumbaa and the other meerkats in Timon's colony gasped.

"Timon's… dead?!" cried Pumbaa.

"No!" cried Nina, "That can't be!"

"It's true. He's been sent to a watery grave, and now I'm taking his place. As of this moment, you are all part of **my** gang now. All of you will bow to me and do as I say."

"Guess again, Kibaya!" another voice shouted.

Everyone turned towards the new voice. Standing just a few feet away from them were Timon and Bob.

"Timon!" Pumbaa, Nina, and Zina shouted together.

Kibaya and Kali dropped their jaws in shock. Kibaya then glanced at Kali; who shrugged and shook his head in response. Nobody seemed to notice the hyena standing behind Timon, until one of Kibaya's colony members shouted, "Hyena!"

Everyone, except Timon, gasped in shock.

"Timon, behind you!" Pumbaa shouted.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Timon replied, "It's okay, everyone. **This** hyena's not gonna hurt you. That is, **if** you're part of **my** gang."

"I thought you and your pack swore off meerkats." Kibaya said to Bob.

_'Is that so?'_ Timon thought as he glanced at Bob, _'Interesting. But how would __**Kibaya**__ know that?'_

"Well, yeah." said Bob, "But I've never actually tasted meerkat before, so I don't know if I'd like it or not. Besides, King Simba threatened to kill us if we ate any of **Timon's** gang, but he didn't say anything about-"

Timon elbowed the hyena's front leg.

"Shutting up."

As Timon walked over to Kibaya, Pumbaa and the meerkats in both colonies nervously watched as Bob followed.

"Now, Kibaya, give me back my stick and get out of our jungle!" Timon demanded, "Or you're gonna be Bob's first appetizer!"

Growling, Kibaya threw the stick down at Timon's feet.

"This isn't over by a longshot!" he snarled at Timon, "I'll be back."

"I'll be waiting."

Kibaya turned and motioned for his colony members to follow. Timon picked up his stick as Kibaya's gang left the oasis.

"So… I guess I'm done here now." said Bob, "Well, see ya."

"Not so fast." Timon retorted, "How did Kibaya recognize you?"

"Oh… umm… he's uh… a friend of my second cousin?"

"Stumpy,"

Stumpy emerged from the crowd, ran up to Bob, grabbed one of his hind paws, and started to twist it.

"No, please! OW!" Bob cried, "Okay, okay! We uh… we gave up eating meerkats after you beat us. Kibaya overheard us talking about it and asked us why. So, we told him about how you beat us and how none of us really liked the taste of meerkats anyway. Of course I never really tasted meerk-…"

Stumpy twisted Bob's paw harder, causing him to scream louder.

"Don't digress!" he said to the hyena.

"Sorry, sorry! Anyway, Kibaya asked us where this place was and we told him, cause he said you were a friend of his. Please don't tell King Simba! We didn't know Kibaya was gonna try to take over this place, honest!"

To everyone's amazement, Bob started bawling. Never in Timon's life did he ever think he'd see a hyena cry. He couldn't help smiling at the sight.

"That's enough, Stumpy." he said, "You can let him go now."

Stumpy scowled as he released Bob's paw and backed away from him.

"Tell ya what, Bob."

The hyena was still crying and couldn't hear him.

"Bob… Bob… **STOP BAWLING!**"

Bob quickly stopped crying and looked back at Timon.

"I'll tell ya what. Kibaya's gang is bound to try and take over this place again soon. If you and your pack mates can help us stop them for good, then I'll forget you guys came back here."

"Okay. I'll get Akili and Brutus. We'll come here and stop them for you."

With that, Bob turned and ran off. Then Zina then ran up to Timon.

"Timon!" she cried, throwing her arms around him, "I was so worried!"

Timon smiled and returned her hug, but said nothing. Immediately after pulling away, he was met with another much tighter hug from Nina.

"Oh, Timmy! I knew you were alive!"

"He won't be for long if you keep choking him like that." Zina retorted.

"Oh, sorry!" Nina said, pulling away.

"I'm glad to see you all again too." Timon said to the crowd, after catching his breath, "But I'm afraid I have some unpleasant news as well. Where's Takata?"

The meerkats all looked around, but couldn't find Takata. Eventually though, Gus spotted him.

"There he is!" he said, pointing, "Under Mr. Pumbaa!"

The other meerkats looked and Pumbaa backed up, surprised to find Takata cowering under him.

"What are you doin', Takata?" Pumbaa asked.

Takata slowly looked up with a gulp and said, "I can expla-…"

"Seize him!" Timon ordered.

Although confused, two meerkats obeyed his order and grabbed Takata.

"Timon, what's going on here?" Nina asked.

"Everyone, I'm sorry to have to tell you this," Timon said to the crowd, "but Takata here is a traitor. He's been working with Kibaya's gang all along and tried to have me killed."

Pumbaa and the other meerkats stared at Takata in disbelief.

"Takata… is that true?" Zina asked.

Takata closed his eyes and nodded.

"I didn't want-…" he started to say.

"I thought you were a good guy." Timon interrupted, "I thought you could be trusted. Now I see that I was wrong to let you live here with us."

"Wait, please! I was just following orders! Kibaya was-…"

"Well, now you can follow **my** orders. Leave this place and don't **ever** come back again. You're banished from here forever! Take him outta here, boys."

Takata opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again and looked down at the ground. Zina didn't know what to say. She just watched in silence, with tears streaming down her face, as the two meerkats escorted Takata out of the oasis. Timon watched them until they were out of his sight, then turned back to face Zina.

"Zina, I'm sorry I had to do that," he said, "but… Zina?"

Zina was no longer among the crowd. Looking past them, Timon saw her walking away with her face buried in her hands. The other meerkats and Pumbaa turned around and watched her walk off. Then they turned back to face Timon; who blinked in surprise a few times and sat down with a heavy sigh. He put his arms on his knees and buried his face in his arms. Pumbaa walked up to him.

"Timon?" he said.

"Leave me." Timon replied, not even looking up, "I need a few minutes alone here."

"Timmy, I…" Nina started to say.

"Please, Ma."

"I think we should go." Pumbaa whispered to her, "He'll feel better soon."

Nina sighed and said, "Well, I sure hope so. Come on, everyone."

Pumbaa, Nina, and the other meerkats walked away. Timon just sat there, thinking about what he had just done. For the moment, he had settled the score with his enemy, as well as his betrayer, but it would only be a matter of time before his enemy would return. Furthermore, Timon realized that he had hurt his mate by exiling her brother and not letting him explain himself.

"What have I done?!"

---

To be Continued


	7. Remorse

**Chapter 7 – Remorse **

---

As Kibaya lead his gang away from the oasis, he heard a voice behind him call out, "Hey, Kibaya!"

He turned around and saw Takata being held by two other meerkats.

"You left some of your garbage!" one of them said.

Each of them put one foot on Takata's back and pushed him. Takata stumbled and fell face down onto the ground.

"And you best **keep** yourself **and** your garbage **out** of our jungle, if you know what's good for you!" added the other.

With that, the two members of Timon's gang turned and left. Kibaya walked up to Takata with a sneer on his face and helped him up.

"So, they kicked you out, huh?" he asked.

"Yep." Takata replied.

"That selfish colony may think they can just horde that beautiful place to themselves, but they'll be proven wrong soon. What do you say, Takata? Ready to exact revenge?"

Takata thought about it, then clenched his fist in anger and nodded.

"Yes!" he said, "Yes, I'm ready for revenge!"

"Then we shall attack the oasis, first thing tomorrow. Timon may have survived once, …somehow… but this time we **will** finish the job. Will you be ready?"

"Yes. I'm gonna make sure that he gets what's coming to him."

Kibaya chuckled and put his hand on Takata's shoulder.

"Good. Then come. Let us prepare for battle."

_'__**Someone**__ will get what's coming to him.'_ Takata thought.

---

Zina sat in a nest with her head buried in her arms, unaware of Timon; who was watching her from a distance.

"Feel any better, Timmy?"

Timon turned his head and noticed his mother standing there, then turned back to face Zina again.

"No, Ma, I don't." he said, "I really hurt Zina by kicking out her brother. That's a pain that I may never recover from. Plus, I promised Pop that I'd stay away from that gang after my first fight with Kibaya. Now it looks like I'm about to involuntarily break that promise, for the second time. And this time, Pop and Uncle Max aren't here to bail me out."

"Aw, sweetie, don't take it so hard." Nina said, reaching for his hair, "You can't let…"

Nina stopped and lowered her hands, realizing that Timon wouldn't listen and would resist if she tried fixing his hair. But to her surprise, Timon sat down in front of her.

"Go ahead, Ma. In fact… give me that rock-star look! I liked that one. Maybe it'll help cheer me up."

"Oh… sorry, but I don't remember how to do that one."

"Figures. Fine, do your worst then. I don't care."

Nina shrugged, then started to work on her son's hair.

"Well as I was saying," she said, "you can't let some other gang's threats get to you like this. After all, you've rescued Zina from a hyena and outsmarted two whole packs of them. If you were brave enough to take on all those hyenas and managed to survive each time, then a rival meerkat colony shouldn't scare you."

Nina paused to look at Timon's hair. As a small insect flew by, she squashed it with her hands and resumed, using the squashed bug as gel.

"And once we've beaten them back, I'm sure your father and even your uncle Max would still be proud."

This bit of encouragement took some weight off Timon's heart, but it was still a bit heavy.

"What about Zina?" Timon asked, "How can I live with the pain of hurting my mate by exiling her long-lost brother? Especially since he tried to explain himself and I didn't listen."

"Now don't be so hard on yourself, Timon. Besides, there's still a chance. If he comes with the rest of the gang, maybe we can capture him and then you can let him explain."

Timon thought about it and looked back up at Zina. Then he stood up.

"I think I've seen enough." he said, "I'm gonna go talk to her now. Wish me luck, Ma."

As Timon headed to Zina's nest, he noticed Flinchy walking by. Flinchy stopped, looked at Timon and started to snicker.

"What?"

"Oh, I uh… just remembered that joke you told last week!" Flinchy replied, "Yeah! Man, I just can't stop laughing!"

Flinchy continued on his way, laughing harder.

_'Odd.'_ Timon thought, _'He never even __**gets**__ my jokes, let alone laugh at them.'_

Timon shrugged, went to Zina's nest, and cleared his throat.

"Zina? You okay?" he asked.

Zina sniffled and replied, "I… I just don't know!"

Timon climbed into the nest and held her in his arms.

"I know he tried to kill you," Zina continued, "but ever since he and I were separated, I've missed him. Now he's gone again and I just don't know how to feel."

"Listen, Zina, I realize that I was wrong to exile him so quickly. I should've allowed him to explain instead of jumping to conclusions. But I promise you that when the enemy returns, I'll see to it that Takata is taken alive for questioning."

Zina wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Thank you, Timon."

She looked up at him and suddenly stared. She then started to giggle, then began laughing harder.

"What's so funny?"

Timon soon heard more laughter nearby. He looked in the direction of the laughter and saw five other meerkats laughing and pointing at him.

"Hey, what's goin' on here?! What the heck is everyone laughing at?!"

"Your mom really did it this time!" one of them said.

That's when Timon realized that he'd completely forgotten about his hair. He jumped out of the nest, ran to a pool of water, and looked at his reflection.

"**MA!**"

"What? You told me to do my **worst!**" Nina shouted back with a chuckle.

_'And she says __**I**__ take things to literally.' _Timon thought, as he frantically tried to restore his hair to its former glory,_ 'Why couldn't she remember how to do the rock-star look?'_

"Okay, very funny." he said, "Good joke. Har har, Ma got me good. But that doesn't mean you guys don't still have patrols to get back to."

The other meerkats gradually stopped laughing and resumed their patrols. Nina smiled and shook her head.

"He's becoming more and more like his father every day." she said to herself.

As he watched his fellow meerkats get back to work, guarding the oasis, Timon noticed Pumbaa walking up to him.

"Glad you're feeling better." Pumbaa said, "What was everyone laughing about?"

"Don't ask, Pumbaa. Just don't ask."

---

To be Continued


	8. Enemies and Allies Inbound

**Chapter 8** **– Enemies and Allies Inbound**

---

Stumpy and Swifty walked through the oasis, each of them holding a large stick in one hand.

"I don't know why he'd want that traitor alive," said Stumpy, "unless he wants to torture him in retaliation."

"Well, apparently, he was trying to explain the reason for his betrayal and now Timon wants to hear it."

"Hmmm… well, I guess I can understand that. I mean, he **must've** had a good reason, after all the things that Timon did for him and Zina."

As the two meerkats continued their patrols, Stumpy suddenly bumped into Iron Joe. Startled, Joe yelped and got into a defensive position.

"Stay back!" he cried, "Or I'll…! Oh, it's just you guys. Sorry."

Joe calmly walked away.

"Typical." said Swifty, "Any time we've got a conflict on our hands, he goes into hysterics."

Soon afterwards, they heard Joe cry out again. Turning to face him, they saw Joe holding his foot, while hopping up and down on the other. He had stubbed his toe on an earthed rock that he hadn't noticed.

"Ow! Stupid rock!"

As Joe walked away grumbling, Stumpy sighed and shook his head. Swifty took a good look at the rock.

"That's weird." he said, "I don't remember that rock being there before."

Shrugging, he and Stumpy went back to their patrols. Little did either of them know that the rock in question was covering a hole; which lead to a tunnel system being dug underneath the oasis. Meanwhile, in one of those tunnels; two meerkats from Kibaya's colony lay down, exhausted from a lot of digging.

"Man, I still can't believe we ran into a hyena's corpse!" one of them said to the other.

"Yeah, I know! As if an encounter with a live one wasn't bad enough! I sure hope they don't let my mate see it. She'll probably have a heart attack."

As the two meerkats lay there, catching their breaths, neither of them noticed Kibaya walking up to them.

"Do you two think this is nap time?!" he shouted, "Get back to work!"

"Please, Kibaya! We're getting tired!"

"Yeah, we've been digging all day. Can't we stop for just a min-"

The meerkat stopped talking when Kibaya grabbed him and pulled him up until their faces met.

"I want **ALL** of these tunnels finished by tomorrow morning," he said in a soft but firm voice, "or else I will pick you up and squeeze you until all of your body fluids run dry!"

"…Eww."

Kibaya then put him down and walked away. The meerkat waited until Kibaya was out of his sight, then sighed with relief.

"Boy, what I'd like to do to him...!" he said.

"Yeah, I bet all of us would." his friend replied, "Especially after what he did to Lila. But everyone who tried to is with **her** now."

"Yeah. Well, we best get back to work if we want our mates to have pups before we join Lila."

The two meerkats reluctantly went back to digging the tunnels.

---

"Any sign of him yet?" Brutus asked Akili.

"Nope, he's not here either."

Having searched for their comrade, for what seemed like an eternity, the two hyenas were starting to get tired.

"Aw, forget it." said Akili, "Let's just go home."

"Yeah, you're right. Pretty soon, he'll probably run right into us and start shootin' off his mouth again anyway."

Brutus and Akili turned around and started walking back to their den, when they suddenly noticed Bob running towards them.

"Brutus! Akili!" he shouted.

Unfortunately, Bob was running too fast and slammed right into a startled Brutus.

"OW! Hey, watch where you're going, you moron!"

"Oh, sorry 'bout that," Bob sheepishly replied, "but there's something I gotta tell you guys. I mean this is big! **Real** big!"

"Man, I hate it when I'm right." Brutus mumbled to himself, as he rubbed his head.

"Bob, where've you been?" asked Akili, "Nevermind, I'd rather not know."

"But I can't tell you the important thing without telling you where I've been. And this is something really-"

"Alright, alright, we're listening. But this had better be important."

Bob explained the situation, trying his hardest not to bore his comrades. They weren't overly pleased with his news, however.

"So, let me get this straight." said Akili, "Kibaya's colony tried to take over the jungle oasis, but you went there and helped stop them. Then they found out that we gave Kibaya the location of the oasis. So now Timon's gonna tell Simba, unless we help him beat the other colony for good?"

"Uh-huh."

"So if we go back there, we're dead." said Brutus, "But if we **don't** go back there, we're **still** dead. What a fine mess you've gotten us into, Bob!"

"Hey, it's not **my** fault!" Bob retorted, "You're the one who told Kibaya where the jungle oasis was."

"Well, maybe if **you** hadn't startled that sentry!"

Akili slapped her forehead and sighed heavily.

"Well, I didn't know that he didn't know that we-"

"**LOOK!**" Akili shouted, "I don't care whose fault this mess is! Let's just get to that blasted jungle and get ourselves **out** of it already!"

Brutus and Bob blinked and then nodded in response.

---

To be Continued


	9. The Eve of Battle

Author's note: Wow, has it really been nearly a month since I updated? Sorry about that. Well, anyway, I know what you're probably thinking, but don't worry. The battle is coming up next and I promise I'll do my best to make it awesome. I also promise that Takata will return in the next chapter and a surprise will be revealed near the end of the story. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 9 – The Eve of Battle**

---

Timon struggled to free himself from the hyena's teeth. Ed, the hyena, was sitting in front of Banzai, holding Timon by the tail in his mouth as Shenzi walked up to them and sat down next to Ed.

"Dearly beloved," said Banzai, "we're gathered here today… aw, let's just cut to the chase. Do you, Timon, take Shenzi Marie Predatora Veldetta Jackalina Hyena to be your mate?"

"He does." said Shenzi.

Before Timon could protest, Ed nodded, shaking him and making him dizzy in the process.

"And do you, Shenzi Marie blah blah blah…, do you take Timon?"

"I do."

"Then I hereby pronounce you-…"

"I object!" a voice shouted.

The hyenas turned towards the voice and then they all screamed when they found themselves face to face with Simba. As Timon fell out of Ed's open mouth and onto the ground, Simba let out a loud roar. The hyenas then ran off as fast as they could. Timon gradually picked himself up off the ground and looked up at Simba.

"Simba! Thank goodness!" he cried, "You just saved me from a fate worse than death!"

"That I did." Simba chuckled, "However, I'm not really Simba."

"Huh?"

To Timon's astonishment, Simba instantly transformed into a meerkat. But not just any meerkat.

"Uncle Max?!?"

"That's right." Max replied, "I was given permission to visit you again, but only in your dreams. So I assumed Simba's form to scare off the hyenas."

"A dream." Timon muttered, "I should've figured. I suppose you're gonna ask me to try and stay asleep, cause you've got some things to tell me and don't know how long you'll be able to visit me, right?"

"Bingo. Before I get started though, let's get out of this filthy dump of a hyena's den, shall we?"

Max snapped his fingers and instantly, the two of them were at the oasis. Timon looked around in amazement and smiled.

"Amazing what you can do in a dream once you're in control, ain't it?" Max said, "Anyway, while I'm on the subject of hyenas, you remember Dakota: the one that you rescued Zina from, right?"

Timon nodded.

"Years ago, he and Lakota were in a different pack. The same one that your father bravely, though foolishly, fought off to save you and your mother."

"…You're joking, right?"

"I'm dead serious. Pun **so** not intended."

"So then, how did Pop do against 'em?" Timon asked.

"Well, Lakota was a pushover, and so were the others. Except Dakota. He put up a much tougher fight and was the only one to hurt your dad."

"And I take it, he hurt him pretty bad."

"Fatally wounded him, just like his brother did to me. So, when you killed Dakota, you didn't just avenge **Zina's** father, but **your** father too."

Timon didn't know what to think.

"Your dad wanted to tell you before we left," Max continued, "but we were short on time and it slipped his mind."

"I see." Timon responded, "Well, I'm glad both of your killers got what was coming to them."

Max felt his tail perk up, as if it was being pulled.

"Uh oh, I almost forgot the main thing I wanted to tell you!" he said, "And I'm running out of time too!"

"What? What is it?"

"Kibaya's gang is about to make their move now."

"Now?!"

"Yep. Even as we speak, Kibaya's at the oasis and challenging you to another fight. He's also planning something big, so you better be on your toes."

Timon glanced down at his toes.

"Say, Uncle Max," he said, "quick question. You and Pop can see everything, right? So, why did Takata betray me?"

"That I'm not supposed to tell you. They want you to find out for yourself. And even if I could tell you, I wouldn't have time to finish before you wake up. I can tell you this though. If Takata offers you his help, accept it."

Timon suddenly heard Zina's voice calling out to him.

"Time for you to prove yourself again." Max said, as he started fading, "Good luck. And don't forget what I've told you."

With that, Max disappeared and Timon started to wake up. Upon opening his eyes, he noticed Pumbaa trotting up to him with Zina on his back. Before either of them could say a word though, Timon jumped up onto his feet and said, "Kibaya! He's here!"

Astonished, Pumbaa asked, "How'd you know?"

"It was Uncle Max. He saved me from… and then he…"

Pumbaa and Zina stared at him.

"Look, nevermind how I know. Where is Kibaya?"

"He's standing on the big log and calling you out." said Zina.

"That long moss-covered one that leads to the latrine?"

"That's the one."

Timon grabbed his stick and climbed onto Pumbaa's back.

"Then we've got no time to waste." he said, "Let's roll!"

---

Kibaya laughed out loud, barely flinching as Timon's colony members taunted him and threw rocks in his general direction.

"You are all pathetic!" he shouted back at them, "I could wipe you all out with one claw alone!"

"Why don't you come down **here** and prove it, punk!" a meerkat shouted back.

"Oh, I would, but you're not worth the effort. Besides, I have no quarrel with any of you. It's your leader, Timon that I want."

"Yeah? Well, if you want him, you'll have to get through **us** first!" another meerkat snapped back.

"No, no, that won't be necessary."

All of the meerkats looked towards the new voice and saw Timon standing on Pumbaa's back, next to Zina.

"You want to settle this once and for all, huh?" Timon shouted to Kibaya, "Well, truth is, so do I. And this time, I'm gonna make sure you **don't** come back!"

Kibaya chuckled in response.

"Quite an overconfident leader, aren't you?" he said, "If my claws and teeth don't kill you, then your overconfidence will!"

"Really? Gee, you had me worried for a second. Until I realized you weren't going to attack me with your breath!"

"Say whatever you please. In a moment, you won't be feeling so cocky. Now come! Face me if you dare!"

Nina emerged from the crowd and said, "Timmy…"

"Don't try to stop me, Ma." said Timon, "I have to do it."

"No, Timon, I wasn't about to stop you. I just wanted to wish you luck. But promise me that you'll be careful and come back in one piece. Okay, honey?"

Timon blinked, then grinned and nodded. Then he turned to Zina and gave her a parting kiss.

"What she said." Zina whispered in his ear, "I love you."

With that, Zina jumped off Pumbaa and went with Nina into the crowd of meerkats; who all waited in anticipation.

Timon took hold of Pumbaa's ears and said, "Let's go, Pumbaa."

Pumbaa saluted and bounded off towards the moss-covered log.

---

"How'd it go?" Buzz asked Max.

"I told him about Dakota and barely managed to warn him about Kibaya." Max replied, "I just wish I could've elaborated more about the trap that he's set. And I kinda wish I could've told him about Takata."

Buzz and Max glanced at Takata and Zina's father; who, with his mate by his side, just looked on and sighed.

"Don't worry, Mitch." Buzz said, putting his hand on Mitch's shoulder, "Just have faith in your son. Somehow, he'll prove himself to Timon."

"I hope you're right." Mitch responded.

---

To be Continued


	10. Timon vs Kibaya

Author's note: Again I apologize for the long delay, but I promise this story will be finished. And eventually, I will reveal that surprise I promised. In fact, I'll make it two surprises. Till then, enjoy this extra long chapter.

**Chapter 10 – Timon vs. Kibaya**

---

As Pumbaa and Timon neared the moss-covered log, Timon thought about what Max told him in his dream.

"Whoa, hold up, Pumbaa." he said, giving Pumbaa's ear a tug.

Pumbaa stopped and asked, "What's wrong? Getting cold feet?"

"I smell a trap."

"Really? I don't smell anything."

"Not literally, Pumbaa! But wait… that gives me an idea! Listen carefully. Here's what I want you to do."

Timon whispered his plan in Pumbaa's ear.

"Got it, Timon!"

Timon jumped off Pumbaa and the two of them gave a high-four. Pumbaa then bounded off as Timon went to the log.

---

Kibaya tapped his foot and rubbed the scars on his face, as he waited impatiently for Timon to arrive. Finally, he noticed Timon approaching with his leadership stick in hand.

"Alright, Kibaya," he said, "you want this stick? Well, there's only one way to get it and that's through me."

Timon tossed the stick behind him and got into a fighting position.

"Ready for another butt-kicking?"

"Ha! You were lucky the first time." Kibaya replied, "Lucky not to be noticed by our sentries. Had they spotted you, you would've had to deal with my entire mob. Speaking of which…"

Kibaya then turned towards Timon's gang and shouted, "Now, everyone! Attack!"

Suddenly, Timon's gang members found themselves surrounded by Kibaya's gang; who seemed to be coming out of nowhere. The meerkats in Timon's gang were caught completely off guard as Kibaya's gang members pounced on them. Timon's jaw dropped in shock as he watched. Then he looked down in grief and despair.

"Oh, don't feel **too** bad." said Kibaya, "None of your friends are going to die. Yet."

"Whattaya mean, not yet?" Timon asked.

"My gang members are only restraining them. For you see, I've decided to let them watch you die first. Then I'll give each and every one of them a choice. To join my gang or die. Perhaps I'll even spare your mate. I'll bet she'd look much lovelier by my side."

Timon growled deeply as Kibaya started to laugh. With rage building up inside him, Timon turned to face Kibaya with his fist pulled back, and launched it forward as hard as he could. Kibaya barely even noticed Timon's fist, before it made hard contact with his face and knocked him onto his back. The punch was hard enough to hurt Timon's fist as well, but Timon didn't care. Kibaya slowly got back up, rubbing his face with one hand.

"Well, I see someone's a little anxious to get this fight started." he said, "Very well then. Let's do it."

Timon got into a defensive stance and said, "Bring it on!"

---

Timon's colony members struggled, but none of them could escape their restraints. Several of them had their limbs tied together with vines. Others were being pinned down with sticks or claws held against their throats. Even Stumpy wasn't able to break free from the enemy meerkats that were holding his limbs down. All they could do now was watch as their leader and his enemy fought for control of the colony.

Zina soon noticed Takata standing near Kali. Takata turned and saw Zina, only to be met with an angry glare from his sister. If she were closer and didn't have her arms tied behind her back, she would've slapped him in the face.

"How could you, Takata?" she blustered, "After everything he's done for us, how could you betray Timon like this?"

"Put a cork in it, lady!" Kali shouted, pointing a stick at her, "Unless you want to find out the hard way just how bad a stick can hurt."

As Kali turned back to watch the fight, Takata gave him an angry glare. Then he turned back to face Zina.

"You'll understand soon." he said, "Trust me."

Takata looked around to make sure that none of his colony members would notice, then leaned towards Zina and winked. Zina looked back in surprise as Takata turned around to watch the fight with Kali and the others.

"Whose side is he on?" she muttered.

Takata waited until he was certain that everyone's attention was focused on the fight.

_'Now's my chance!'_ he thought.

As discreetly as he could, Takata slipped away from the crowd until he was out of sight. Then he bolted towards the long moss-covered log. It wasn't very long, however, until Kali noticed him gone.

"Hey, where's Takata?" he asked.

The meerkats in Kibaya's colony looked around for Takata, but he was soon the least of their concerns.

"Mama! Papa!" Gus cried pointing, "Look!"

"Not now, Gus." said Swifty.

"No, look! It's Mr. Pumbaa!"

All of the meerkats turned in surprise and noticed Pumbaa approaching them.

"It's that warthog!" shouted one of Kibaya's colony members.

Pumbaa soon felt his stomach gurgling.

"Hoo boy," he moaned, "I think I've had too many stinkbugs today."

Timon's gang members either covered their noses or held their breaths, as Pumbaa turned around and lifted his tail.

"Hey, what is this?" cried Kali, "What's he doing?"

---

Kibaya laughed as Timon slowly got back up onto his feet, out of breath and barely able to hold his ground. He had fought as hard as he could, but Kibaya was proving to be a much more formidable opponent than last time. Despite all the pain Timon inflicted on him, Kibaya had the upper hand.

"Had enough yet?" Timon taunted him, "Say 'Uncle Jimmy's jumpin' flapjack jamboree', and I'll go easy on you!"

"Uncle Jimmy's jumpi-… wait, I'm winning!"

Kibaya then grabbed Timon's throat and lifted him up off his feet.

"And now, I shall finally have my revenge!" he said.

Just as he was about to squeeze Timon's throat, a loud cacophonous sound distracted him.

"What was that?" he asked, looking in the direction of the noise.

Then to his surprise, he saw his gang members all running away and Timon's gang breaking free.

"Let's get 'em!" Stumpy shouted.

Timon's gang members then ran to pursue their enemies. Kibaya stared back in shock, dropping Timon; who started breathing for dear life and then laughed at Kibaya.

"Sucker!" he said, standing up, "That ambush was pretty clever, I'll grant you that. But I happen to know a bit about traps myself, and I was prepared for this one!"

"I must commend you, Timon. You've proven quite resourceful for a weakling, but it won't save you!"

Timon jerked backwards, just narrowly avoiding a slash to the face from Kibaya's claws. But he moved a bit too far backwards, lost his balance, and fell off the log. Luckily, Timon managed to grab onto the log and sink his claws into its bark. Kibaya walked up to Timon and lifted his foot to stomp on his hands. Then suddenly, he felt a single hand shove him hard off the log. But as Kibaya fell, he was able to grab onto Timon's foot at the last second. Timon didn't know how to feel at that point. On the one hand, someone had just prevented Kibaya from killing him. But on the other hand, it looked like they were going to inadvertently cause both Timon's and Kibaya's deaths.

"Impossible!" Kibaya shouted, "How could anyone…? Bah, it doesn't matter. If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me, Timon."

Timon looked down and gulped, as he tried to think of a way to get himself out of this predicament. That's when he noticed that his other leg was free.

With a smirk, Timon retorted, "Oh no, you're not!"

Kibaya let go with one hand and was about to slash at Timon with his claws, but Timon was waiting and took that moment to slash at Kibaya's other hand with his toe claws. Kibaya screamed in pain and let go. Timon watched as Kibaya fell screaming, until he finally hit the ground and lay still. Timon tried again to climb up the log, but was still weak from the battle and was finding it difficult to get up.

"Here, Timon! Grab on!"

Timon looked up at the voice. To his surprise, Takata was kneeling on the log and holding his hand out to him. Timon just stared at him in disbelief.

"Come on, Timon! I'm trying to save you!"

"But… why?"

"Look, I can explain everything. But only if you trust me. Please, Timon."

Realizing he had little choice, Timon reached out his right hand and grabbed Takata's hand. With Takata's help, he was able to climb back onto the log.

"You okay?" Takata asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Timon replied, "Now why did you save me after I exiled you from here?"

"You're not the person I was mad at."

"Whattaya mean?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story. You see, after I escaped from the hyena that bit my arm off, I stumbled across Kibaya's colony. Although at that time, they were lead by a fair and decent girl named Lila. She took pity on me and allowed me to be one of her sentries. But about two months later, Kibaya killed her and declared himself the new leader. He sent me here to infiltrate this place and help him take you out. But once I found out that Zina was here, that you saved her life twice, and that you were mates, I wasn't so eager to go through with Kibaya's plan."

"Why did you then?"

"Kali threatened to kill me and Zina if I didn't. For that reason, I wanted revenge on Kibaya. He and Kali were the ones I blamed for my exile. Oh, and remember how I hesitated before pushing you into the waterfall?"

"Yeah."

"That's because I was using my toe claws to cut the vines on your wrists."

Timon stared back at him in shock.

"**YOU** did that?!"

Takata nodded.

"Hmmph. And here I thought I was getting stronger."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Takata replied with a smirk, "Anyway, when I said I hoped you were a better swimmer than I was, I meant that. I was hoping you'd break free and escape, so that- Agh! Hey, what the…?"

Before either of them realized it, Kali had appeared behind Takata and grabbed him. Now Kali was holding him hostage with his claws to Takata's throat.

"One wrong move, and I slash his throat!" Kali threatened.

"You coward!" Takata said to Kali, "Couldn't take me on in a fair fight, could you? No! Had to sneak up behind me like a-"

Kali punched Takata across the face.

"Shut your face, traitor!" he shouted, "You there, hand over that stick right now!"

Timon reluctantly retrieved his leadership stick.

"Only if you let him go." he replied.

"Give it to me first!"

"Give him **nothing**, Timon!" Takata shouted, "Let **me** give him what he **really** deserves!"

Summoning all of his strength, Takata leaned forward as hard as he could. To Kali's surprise, he was lifted off his feet. Takata then turned his body to the right and leaned back. Kali still had his arm around Takata's neck, but was now struggling to maintain his footing on the log.

"Hey, whattaya doin'?" he cried, "You'll kill us both!"

"It'll be worth my life to get rid of you! Timon, take care of Zina for me."

"Wait, Takata, don't!" Timon shouted.

He was too late. Takata jumped backwards, sending both himself and Kali plummeting off the log.

"**TAKATA!**"

---

Kibaya wanted to run away, but with both of his legs broken by the fall, all he could manage was to drag himself with his arms. He had only gone a few yards, when his hand suddenly touched fur. Looking at the source of the fur, he discovered that his hand was touching the middle toe on a hyena's paw. Akili was standing in front of him, and on either side of her were Brutus and Bob.

"Hello, Kibaya." said Akili.

"You again! I don't have time for this. Outta my way!"

"Sorry, Kibaya," said Brutus, "but we can't do that."

"You lied to us, Kibaya." Akili went on, "You said that Timon was your friend. But obviously, he's not."

"Yeah, and then there's this oasis;" added Bob, "which nobody else knows about, except for the lions and Timon's colony. And if we allowed you to spread the word…-"

"That'll do, Bob." Akili interrupted, "That'll do."

"Shutting up."

"Did we forget to mention that we don't like being lied to?" Brutus asked.

Akili lowered her head until her nose was just inches from Kibaya's.

"We most certainly do not." she said.

"No, wait!" Kibaya cried, "Can't we talk this out? Please! Please, no! **NOOOO!**"

---

To be Continued


	11. Victory

Author's note: Those surprises that I promised will be in the next chapter. I was going to put them in this one, but unfortunately, I still haven't finished writing the scenes with them. I also would've put this chapter up sooner, but I had a pretty tight work schedule and I recently turned 24. So now my age matches my favorite TV show. Anyhue, hope you like this chapter.

**Chapter 11 - Victory**

---

The enemy meerkats all shook in fear and looked around as Timon's mob and Pumbaa advanced on them. They were now cornered with nowhere to run. Finally one meerkat from Kibaya's gang dropped to his knees and raised his hands in the air.

"Wait!" he cried, "We surrender!"

The others in the gang assumed his position.

"We didn't want to do it, honest!" he continued, "Kibaya and Kali forced us! They would've killed us if we didn't!"

"They already killed some of us." a female added, tearfully.

"Please don't hurt us!" cried a third gang member.

Timon's gang stopped and thought about it.

"I think we should leave it up to Timon." said Zina, "If he's still alive; which I hope."

"Yeah, let's tie 'em up and bring 'em to him." said Stumpy, "Then he'll decide what we do with 'em."

"Sounds fair to me." Nina replied, "You fellas get to work tying up the prisoners. Zina and Pumbaa, let's go find Timon and pray that he's not dead."

Pumbaa lowered his head for Nina and Zina to climb aboard, then went off to find Timon as the gang went to work restraining the prisoners.

---

Timon panted as he ran to find Takata, not stopping until he finally saw him lying deathly still on top of Kali's body. Timon slowly walked up to them, tears starting to come to his eyes. Then he looked at the ground and shook his head.

"Why'd you do it, Takata?" he asked, "Why'd you have to throw your life away like that, just to help me?"

Timon barely noticed Pumbaa approaching him, with Nina and Zina riding on his back.

"Timon!" Zina cried, "You did it! Are you…?"

They all suddenly gasped when they saw Takata.

"Is he…?" Pumbaa started to ask.

Timon closed his eyes and nodded gravely. Pumbaa, Nina, and Zina lowered their heads. Zina covered her eyes with one hand, barely able to fight back tears.

"It's all my fault." Timon said, "I thought he was a traitor, but now I just found out that he's the one who helped me escape from that watery grave."

Pumbaa glanced back up and then stared back in surprise when he noticed Takata twitching. Soon afterwards, Nina and Zina looked up. Then the three of them gasped in excitement as he opened his eyes. Timon was still looking at the ground beneath his feet and didn't notice.

"If only I'd listened to his explanation the first time. But no! He saved my life and I repaid him by forcing him to leave."

With a smirk on his face, Takata slowly got up onto his feet and walked up to Timon.

"And now, because of me, he's dead."

"It's all right, Timon." Takata said, putting his hand on Timon's shoulder.

Timon grabbed Takata and shouted at him, "No, it's **NOT** all right! Didn't you hear me?! Takata's dead and it's all… my… fault?"

"Now that's not quite true." Takata chuckled.

Timon stared at him in confusion.

"But… I… how did…?"

"I survive? Simple. Kali broke my fall."

Pumbaa looked at Kali's body.

"And I'd say you broke just about every bone in his body in return." he said.

"You seem to have a habit of passing out though." said Timon.

"Oh, that. Did I forget to mention that I have acrophobia?"

"Awaco-what-ia?"

"He's afraid of heights." said Zina.

"Oh. Well, that would explain why you didn't want to go bungee jumping with us."

Takata nodded.

"I had to overcome my fear of heights to save you, Timon." he said, "But when Kali and I took the plunge, well… I guess it came back with a vengeance. Say, speaking of which, what happened to Kibaya anyway?"

"Oh, he's… gone." a female voice said, with a burp.

Everyone turned in the direction of the voice and found Akili, Brutus, and Bob approaching them.

"I was wondering when you guys would show up." Timon said to Akili, "You ate Kibaya, didn't you?"

"Yep." she replied, "And believe me, he'll be the last meerkat I **ever** eat."

"Well, actually, there is another one here that I'd like to have disposed of. Ordinarily, we'd probably bury him, but I don't want to risk the possibility of seeing his fist come out of the ground."

"You know, he's got a good point." Bob said to his comrades, "Someone should probably get rid of that guy for good."

Bob then noticed Akili and Brutus looking his way and pointing at him.

"And I… I guess that someone is me."

Timon, Takata, and Pumbaa backed out of the way as Bob walked up to Kali's lifeless body. With his teeth, Bob picked him up by the tail and tossed him in the air. Timon, Pumbaa, Zina, Nina, and Takata all covered their eyes as Bob caught the dead meerkat in his mouth and ate him. Only after hearing him swallow, did they look again.

"Yech! You were right, Brutus." he said, "They **do** taste bitter. This guy's gonna give me indigestion, I just know it."

"So… does this mean we're off the hook?" Brutus asked Timon.

"Long as none of us are ever harmed by you guys, yes." Timon replied, "So, you're free to leave now if you want."

"Hey, you don't have to tell us twice." said Akili, "Come on, guys. Let's go home."

As the hyena's left, Timon turned to Takata.

"Takata," he said, "I owe you an apology. I was wrong to exile you. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

Before Takata could answer, Swifty appeared in a flash.

"Timon! You're alive! Is Kibaya…?"

"Kibaya's gone for good." Pumbaa replied, "And so are the hyenas."

Swifty sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness." he said, "I knew you'd beat him. Oh, and by the way, we managed to round up all the rest of the enemy gang without any casualties. And the prisoners want to talk to you."

"Alright, bring 'em here." Timon responded.

Swifty called out to the other meerkats, "I found him! Over here!"

Shortly afterwards, the rest of Timon's gang arrived, escorting the prisoners; who were all tied together with a long vine.

"Go ahead. Start talkin'." Stumpy said to the prisoners.

One of the prisoners cleared his throat.

"Kibaya was an evil tyrant." he said, "He constantly abused us and had very little remorse for those of us who got injured, sick, or died. We only served him because he and Kali would've killed us if we didn't. Several of us tried to take him out, but well… you can probably guess what happened to them."

"It was never our intention to try and take your home." another prisoner said, "We only did because Kibaya ordered us to. You have our word that none of us will ever set foot in this place again. All we ask in return is that you spare our lives. "

"I think that would make us even." Takata whispered to him.

Timon nodded and said, "Okay, you're all free to go."

Stumpy took hold of the vine, pulled it apart, and tossed it aside.

"Actually, no."

Everyone stopped and looked at Timon in shock.

"I've got a better idea. If you're willing to accept me as your leader, then you're free to **stay.**"

Instantly, all of the former prisoners bowed to him.

"Whoa, hold on. I'm not like Kibaya. You don't have to bow to me. G-Get up. Just a simple salute will do."

The former prisoners all got back up and saluted him.

"That was a nice thing you did for them, honey." said Nina.

"Well, Kibaya said it himself." Timon replied, "They didn't like living underground, hiding from predators, and having to forage for food all day. Plus, after all the suffering they been through under his rule, I think they deserve a little Hakuna Matata."

Takata gave Timon's shoulder a gentle nudge with his fist.

"I knew I was right to stay on your side." he said, "You know, I think we should have a feast to celebrate this victory and welcome our new mob members."

"Yeah, I agree. Ma, Zina, what do you think?"

Nina and Zina nodded in response.

"Pumbaa?"

Pumbaa; who had already begun preparing the feast, called out, "Already on it!"

---

To be Continued


	12. Surprises

Author's note: Well here it finally is, the chapter with those surprises that I promised. And no, I wasn't able to think of a better chapter title. I suppose I could've split this chapter in half and used the second half as an epilogue, but I already thought of a better epilogue for this story. Oh, and one other thing. I may be getting at least one fanart pic soon, from a friend on DeviantArt. If so, I'll post a link to it in my profile. Till then, enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 12 – Surprises**

---

"…and in his dying breath, Uncle Max passed the stick on to me."

Timon paused to wipe a tear from his eye.

"And that's how I became the leader."

"So he gave his life, saving yours." said Kovu, "Sorry to hear of his death. But at least your uncle died a hero, unlike Simba's uncle."

Kovu, Kiara, Pumbaa, and the new members of the meerkat colony were gathered around at the meeting place, as Timon regaled them with the story of how he lead the colony to victory over the hyenas.

"We still don't know how he found this place," Timon continued, "but the important thing is that he got what he had coming to him. Right, Zina?"

Timon looked towards the spot where Zina had been sitting, but to his surprise, she was no longer there. Everyone else looked around, but couldn't find her.

"She was here a second ago." said Pumbaa.

Timon sighed and thought, _'Okay, __**NOW**__ what did I do?'_

"I'll go find her." Takata volunteered, "I've already heard this story anyway."

Takata stood up and walked away, looking for his sister.

"Well, anyway, as I was saying…"

---

After a while, Takata finally found Zina; who was sitting on a log, sniffling and wiping tears from her eyes.

"What's wrong, sis?" Takata asked.

Zina looked up at him and smiled, then hopped down off the log.

"Takata, I just found something out and… I'm wondering how I should tell Timon."

"What happened? Are you… wait… are those tears of joy?"

Zina nodded and said, "Takata, I'm pregnant."

"…No way!"

"Yes way."

"Wow… so that means… I'm gonna be an uncle!"

"Yes, and **I'm** gonna be a grandfather."

Takata and Zina turned towards the voice.

"Dad?!?" they both shouted together.

"Hi, kids." Mitch's spirit said with a smile, "Good to see that you're both in good hands again. By the way, there's someone else who's here to see you too. Zina, you probably won't recognize her, but the two of you go way back."

In the blink of an eye, another meerkat's spirit appeared. It was a female; whom Takata instantly recognized.

"Lila!" he cried.

Lila smiled and said, "Hello, Takata. Hello, Zina."

"Uh… hi." Zina replied, "You do seem familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen you before."

"Well, you were pretty young at the time, so that's understandable."

"Wait a sec…" said Takata, "you knew us when we were pups?"

Lila nodded.

"She has something important to tell you two." said Mitch, "Something she wanted to tell you while she was alive, Takata, but never had the chance."

"Yes. This may come as a shock and it may be difficult to believe, but it's the truth. Takata, Zina, …I'm your mother."

Takata and Zina stared back in surprise, not knowing what to say.

"It's true." Mitch said, putting his arm around Lila's shoulder, "You see, previously, her father was the mob leader. He was a better leader than Kibaya, but he wasn't the nicest person in the world and didn't approve of our relationship. So naturally, he wasn't very happy when he found out that Lila had given birth to you two. But rather than let anything happen to you, I voluntarily left the colony and took you with me."

"I stayed behind at the burrow," Lila added, "because I was supposed to succeed my father when he died. As soon as I became the new leader, I was going to welcome the three of you back into the gang. Your father was well-liked by most of the gang after all, just as I was."

"She did her best to help me take care of you whenever she could. Like providing you with milk and all, but we weren't always easy to find and she couldn't stay with us for long. And then a few years later, your mother woke me up one night and told me that her father had died and that she'd taken his place."

"We would've brought you to the burrow on that night, but you'd already grown too big for either of us to carry and your father didn't want to disturb your sleep. So I went back there myself and waited for the three of you to come the next morning."

"And then that's when the hyena came." said Zina.

"And I was the only one who made it to the burrow." added Takata.

"Exactly." Mitch replied.

"I thought I distinctly heard you weeping one night." Takata said to Lila, "I guess I was right. But now I understand why."

"Yes." she said, "It broke my heart to learn of your father's death and of your injury, and I didn't think I'd ever see your sister again. I'm sorry I wasn't there for either of you as much as I should've been."

"I understand, Mom." Zina replied, "I forgive you."

"I do too, Li- err… Mom. Say, Dad, I thought you didn't like living in tunnels."

"Well truth be told, I didn't like it at all." Mitch replied, "But I didn't really like being a nomad much better. In fact, often times I'd find myself dreaming of-…"

"Uhh… Mitch?" Lila interrupted, "Sorry to interrupt, but we're gonna have to wrap it up now."

Mitch sighed heavily as he and Lila started to fade.

"Sorry, kids." he said, "They're a little strict up there, about the amount of time we spend visiting the living. We've gotta get going."

Lila walked up to Zina with her arms open and the two of them shared a hug, while Mitch and Takata did the same. Then Zina and Takata switched places and each shared a hug with the other parent.

"Take care." Lila said, "We love you. And good luck with the pups."

With that, Mitch and Lila held hands. Then they ascended in the air, fading away until they were gone. Takata's heart sank when he realized that it was his mother who had been killed by Kibaya. But it was lifted up again when he remembered how he had helped stop Kibaya once and for all, and that Kibaya had gotten his comeuppance in the end. And while Takata missed his parents, he realized that his and Zina's lives were more important to Mitch and Lila than their own lives.

"Hey, you okay?" Zina asked.

Takata hesitated, then replied, "Yeah, I'll be alright. Come on. Let's go tell Timon the good news."

---

"…and I was **this** close to getting the stick, when Lakota somehow grabbed my foot with his jaws."

"Ouch!" Kiara said.

"Oh yeah, it hurt." Timon replied, "Luckily though, that's when we heard Simba's roar. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground and Simba was standing over a dead Lakota. Then he sent the other hyenas packin', Zina and I shared another loving embrace, I married her, and the rest is history."

The meerkats applauded in response.

"That was quite an amazing story." Kovu commented.

"You know, when Mom and Dad came back, Dad said that he kind of missed Lakota." Kiara added.

"…Really?" Pumbaa asked.

"Oh yeah." Kovu replied, "Cause apparently, he was delicious."

Pumbaa, the meerkats, and the lions all had a big laugh. As Timon gradually contained his laughter, he finally noticed Takata and Zina; who were standing next to Kiara and sharing the laughter with everyone else.

"Hey, there you are!" he said, "How long have you guys been standing there?"

"Oh, right after the part where you put Lakota's eye out." Takata responded, "Personally, I'm still amazed that you had your foot in his mouth and didn't even lose a toe. But I digress. Zina has something important to tell you."

"Oh? What's up, Zina?"

"Actually, I think I should tell you in private first." Zina responded, "I don't want to shock you in front of everyone else."

"Uh… okay then. 'scuse us a sec, everybody."

As Timon and Zina walked away, Pumbaa asked Takata, "It's not bad news, is it?"

"Hardly." Takata chuckled, "In fact, I think you'll want to congratulate them when they get back."

---

"…Are you serious?" Timon asked.

"Yep." Zina replied.

"Are you absolutely positive?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Okay, last time and for sure. Are you-…"

"For the last time, yes."

Timon pinched himself to confirm that it wasn't just another wonderful dream.

"Wow… I… this is… I don't believe it!"

"Does this mean you're happy or unhappy?" Zina asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, of course I'm happy! I mean… well… it's just…"

Timon paused to think of how to finish his sentence.

"Just what?"

"It's… this is just so sudden. I… I don't know if I'm prepared for this. I mean, being a full-time parent. I… I wish Pop was here, so I could ask his advice."

Timon hastily turned around and took a look at his surroundings. But there was no one else in sight. He turned back and looked down with a sigh.

"It worked last time." he said.

Zina put her hand on Timon's shoulder and he slowly looked back up at her.

"You've been a good mate so far." she said, "I know you can be a good father. Besides, you said yourself that it couldn't be too hard, since you and Pumbaa raised King Simba. You could always ask Simba's advice."

Timon shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess I could. And I did say that, didn't I? Well, it may have been a while since I've been a parent, but I'll do my best."

Zina smiled at him and said, "That's the spirit."

The two meerkats then shared a long kiss.

---

"So, I take it you guys are feeling better now?" Buzz asked.

"Yep." Mitch responded, "We were both reluctant to say or do much here, knowing our kids were in danger. But now that they're both safe, I think we can rest easy."

"And I'm glad our daughter found someone like Timon." Lila added, "Someone pure of heart, who loves and cares for her and wasn't afraid to protect her when her life was in jeopardy."

"Well, what can I say? He mostly took after me. And I guess that's one thing we parents all have in common. When our kids are in danger, nothing else matters."

Mitch chuckled and said, "You're all right, Buzz."

---

To be Concluded


	13. Epilogue

Important author's note: Recently, I had to make a slight change to this fic series. You see, at the suggestion of author Kari Gilmore, (a very talented author who has written some great stories) I tried to avoid giving American names to my OCs. So for most of them, I used African language words that translate into something that describes the character.

Examples:

Zina – Beauty

Takata – Pure

Kibaya – Evil

Kali – Cruel

About two weeks ago I discovered that Shari, the name of Swifty's mate, is another Swahili word for Evil. So, since I didn't have any intention of turning her into a villain, I went through each and every chapter in both stories and changed her name to Sherri. And while I was at it, I made a few other minor changes as well.

Anyways, enjoy!

**Epilogue **

--

"Look at him, Timon." Zina cried, "Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?"

Timon nodded. He was sitting in a nest with Zina; who was holding their now two-week-old son, Axel, in her arms as Takata and Nina looked on. Up until that day, Axel had very little fur and his eyes were always closed. Now he'd grown some fur and his parents were waiting in anticipation for him to open his eyes for the first time.

"Seems like only yesterday," Nina said, "I was holding his father and thinking the same thing about him."

Zina and Takata snickered. Timon glowered at Nina and said, "Thanks, Ma."

Then Takata gasped with excitement.

"Look!" he cried, pointing at Axel, "He's waking up!"

Everyone watched as Axel's eyes slowly started to open and he looked up at his parents. Timon smiled and babbled at Axel, while waving his finger at him. As Axel reached out his little hands to get Timon's finger, Timon playfully pulled it away. Then he put his hand around Axel's nose, and then pulled back his fist with his thumb sticking out between his fingers.

"Haha! Got your nose!" he said, "Try and get it! Come on, get your nose!"

Axel just giggled as he watched his father's hand move back and forth. Finally, Timon gave up.

"Not gonna fall for it, huh?"

"Guess that makes him smarter than his uncle." Zina muttered to Timon, as she tickled Axel's chin.

"I heard that!" Takata replied.

Timon watched with reverence as Axel grabbed a hold of Zina's finger and started to play with it.

"He's so cute and tiny." he said, "Just look at him! My boy. My little Axel. My…"

"Okay, Dr. Frankenstein," a voice joked, "I think you've made your point."

Everyone looked and noticed Flinchy approaching.

"Oy! Flinchy's makin' jokes now." Timon muttered, "What next?"

"Something on your mind, Flinchy?" Nina asked.

"Well, yes. There are two things I thought you should know. Firstly, I think Iron Joe's feeling better again. I just saw him with one of the new girls and she was giving him a back rub."

"Well, let's hope his sanity stays with him for good this time." Timon replied, "What else did you want to tell me?"

"I also saw Pumbaa over by the lake at the bottom of the waterfall." Flinchy responded, "He seems kinda depressed."

Timon let out a light gasp and slapped his hand onto his head.

"Pumbaa!" he cried, "Oh my gosh! I've been so busy taking care of Axel, that I've hardly even thought of Pumbaa!"

"Oh, I'll bet he understands." Takata assured him, "Probably wouldn't hurt to have a talk with him though. Maybe arrange for a bit of quality time."

As Timon thought about it, Nina noticed little Axel eyeing a unicorn beetle that had landed on the edge of the nest.

"Zina, don't look now," she said, "but I think someone's hungry."

Zina, Takata, and Timon looked at Axel; who reached out to get the bug as it started flying by. But the pup was too slow and couldn't reach it. Axel frowned and let out a whimper.

"Aw, don't worry, sweetie." Zina said, "Mama's got milk for you. Would you guys mind… uh…"

"Oh, sure. No problem." said Takata.

"Yeah, I was just about to leave anyway." said Flinchy.

Flinchy, Takata, and Nina walked away as Zina started nursing Axel. Timon stood up and stretched. Then he patted his son's head and said, "Don't let that beetle get to ya, kiddo. Some day soon, we'll teach you how to get better at grub grabbing. Now Daddy'll be right back after he has a word with uncle Pumbaa. 'Kay?"

Timon kissed Axel's forehead, hopped out of the nest, and went off to find Pumbaa.

--

Pumbaa sighed as he looked at his reflection in the water. He barely even twitched until he heard the faint sound of footsteps moving towards him.

"Oh, hi, Timon." he said.

"How'd ya know it was me?" Timon asked.

Pumbaa shrugged and said, "Lucky guess?"

"So, uh… why the long face? Is somethin' botherin' ya?"

"Well, Timon, it's just that… lately, I've been feeling kinda lonely."

_'I knew it.'_ Timon thought, _'He's bummed that me and him haven't been hangin' out like we used to.'_

Timon walked up to Pumbaa and put his hand on Pumbaa's back.

"Listen, Pumbaa, I'm sorry I haven't been a good friend to you lately. Let me make it up to ya. Tomorrow you and I will do whatever you want. Just name your game and we'll play it. You and me."

Pumbaa smiled and said, "I'd appreciate that, Timon, but that wasn't exactly what I meant."

"…Oh. Well, what then? I mean the gang's almost doubled in size, the lions still visit now and then, and we just gained a new member of our… family…"

Timon paused.

"Oh, I see what you mean now." he said.

"Yeah." Pumbaa responded, "I'm glad I have you, all the other meerkats and the lions to hang out with and all, but… well, I just think it'd be nice if I could find a partner to start my own family with."

"Well, don't worry, pal. Maybe next time we go to visit the pridelands, we'll find you a potential mate. Or who knows? Maybe she'll come here, looking for-"

"Excuse me." a voice behind them said.

Timon and Pumbaa turned around and to their astonishment, a female warthog was standing there.

"Hi there." she said, "Could either of you help me? I'm trying to find… umm… now what did he call it again…? A Kahuna Colada? No, that wasn't it. Hunky-tuna Tostada? No… umm…"

Pumbaa and Timon stared back for a bit, then Timon finally asked, "You mean, Hakuna Matata?"

"Yeah! That's it! Do you know where I can find it?"

Timon glanced up at Pumbaa with a smirk and nudged him with his elbow. Pumbaa cleared his throat and said, "Well miss… uh…"

"Johari."

"Well miss Johari, I'm Pumbaa and this is my buddy, Timon. And if you want to live the Hakuna Matata lifestyle, then you've come to the right place."

"You mean there's no predators here?" Johari asked.

"Nope." Timon responded, "Just me, my fellow meerkats, and Pumbaa here."

"Well, sometimes King Simba and his family come by to visit," Pumbaa added, "but they're friends of ours, since we raised Simba from a cub and helped him reclaim his throne."

"Oh, really? That's interesting."

Right at that point, Timon could tell that Pumbaa was off to a good start.

"Uhh… I better go now and check on my son." Timon said, "So I'll just let you two talk."

He then winked at Pumbaa and whispered, "Good luck, pal." And with that, he headed back to his and Zina's nest.

--

THE END

But wait! That's not all! Bonus features are coming soon!


	14. Bonus Features part 1

Author's note: Writer's block sucks. I really hate writer's block. Oh yeah and also, I've got good news and bad news.

Bad news: For some stupid reason, this site won't allow outtakes or anything else in script format. So for that reason, there are two features that I can't put up here for fear of having my account suspended and my stories removed. That happened to an old friend of mine once, for a different violation.

Good news: I happen to have a DeviantArt account as well, and they don't have any such rule. (at least that I've seen) And I've got this series on there already, along with all of the bonus features. So if you want to see both parts, go to my profile and there'll be a link to part 2 at the bottom. I would ask that you read both halves before reviewing here though. Unless you're a DA member, then you can just leave me a comment there.

**The Double Agent: Bonus Features – Part 1**

**Deleted Scenes**

---

**Firstly, there's one last deleted scene from Somebody to Love, that I couldn't tell you about then because it would spoil this story. Since I didn't think I'd write a sequel, I was going to have Zina's father and brother visit in the end, along with Buzz and Max. But as I was thinking about how to write the scene, I suddenly came up with the idea for this story and decided to cut those two spirits out. **(See Inspirations section for more details.)

---

**Here's another idea I had for the dream sequence in which Max visits Timon to tell him about how he unknowingly avenged Buzz and to warn him about Kibaya's attack. I changed this scene because I wanted to give Max a reason for getting on the subject of hyenas first.**

Timon's heart sank as he looked around the oasis. It had been almost completely overrun by dozens of hostile meerkats. Everywhere he looked, his fellow meerkats were being overwhelmed by invaders.

Falling to his knees, he cried out, "Why?! How could this possibly be happening?"

"That's simple." a voice behind him said, "It **isn't**."

That voice sounded familiar. Timon slowly turned around. Standing in front of him was a meerkat, whom he recognized. In fact, it was none other than…

"Uncle Max?!?"

"That's right." Max replied, "I was given permission to visit you again, but only in your dreams."

"…You mean… this whole invasion…"

"Is all a dream. And you should probably be thankful for that. Now I'm gonna need you to try and stay asleep, because I've got some important things to tell you and I don't know if I'll ever be able to do this again."

"Alright, I'm listening."

"Good. But first let's get rid of these invaders, shall we?"

Max snapped his fingers and instantly, all of the hostile meerkats disappeared and everyone was relaxing as if nothing happened. Timon looked around in amazement and smiled.

"Amazing what you can do in a dream, once you're in control, ain't it?" Max said.

---

**Originally, the ending was going to be slightly different. But then I stumbled across a fanart picture of baby Timon with his parents. After seeing that picture, I decided to change the first part of the epilogue by putting Timon, Zina, and little Axel in that position. The conversation with Johari in the end was originally going to be a bit shorter as well. **

Timon walked through the oasis, holding his now two-week-old son, Axel. He tickled Axel's chin and playfully pulled his finger away as Axel tried to grab it. Then he put his hand around Axel's nose and pulled back his fist with his thumb sticking out between his fingers.

"Haha! Got your nose!" he said, "Try and get it! Come on, get your nose!"

Axel just giggled as he watched his father's hand move back and forth. Finally, Timon gave up with a sigh.

"Not gonna fall for it, huh?"

Timon shrugged and continued on his way, stopping only to glance at Iron Joe; who was being given a back rub by one of the new females in the gang.

"Aaaah!" Joe sighed with pleasure, "That's much better!"

When the girl finished, she asked, "Ready to give me mine now?"

"Oh, just you try and stop me!"

The girl giggled and assumed the position as Joe got up and prepared to massage her back.

"Let's hope his sanity stays with him for good this time." Timon muttered to Axel.

Little Axel yawned, leaned against Timon's chest, and slowly started to fall asleep. Timon smiled and stroked Axel's fur. As he headed to his and Zina's nest, he suddenly noticed Pumbaa sitting near the lake by the waterfall. Pumbaa; who seemed pretty depressed, sighed heavily as he looked at his reflection in the water.

Timon walked up to him and asked, "Hey, you feelin' okay, Pumbaa?"

Pumbaa hesitated, then replied, "Well, actually, Timon… lately, I've been feeling kinda lonely."

"Lonely? Whattaya mean? The gang's almost doubled in size, the lions still visit now and then, and we just got a new member of our… family…"

Timon paused.

"Oh, I see what you mean now." he said.

"Yeah." Pumbaa responded, "I'm glad I have you, all the other meerkats and the lions to hang out with and all, but… well, I just think it'd be nice if I could find a partner to start my own family with."

"Well, don't worry, pal. Maybe next time we go to visit the pridelands, we'll find you a potential mate. Or who knows? Maybe she'll come here, looking for-"

"Excuse me." a voice behind them said.

Timon and Pumbaa turned around and to their astonishment, a female warthog was standing there.

"Hi there." she said, "Could either of you help me? I'm trying to find… umm… now what did he call it again…? A Kahuna Colada? No, that wasn't it. Hunky-tuna Tostada? No… umm…"

Pumbaa and Timon stared back for a bit, then Pumbaa finally asked, "You mean, Hakuna Matata?"

"Yeah! That's it!"

"Well miss… uh…"

"Johari."

"Well miss Johari, you've come to the right place."

With a smirk, Timon patted Pumbaa's back and said, "I'll let you two talk."

And with that, he made his way back to his nest.

---

**Inspirations **

Here I'm going to describe things from movies, video games, etc. that have inspired scenes from my stories. Yes, both stories, not just this one. There are a few other minor inspirations that I've left out though, because I didn't think they were very important and didn't want to bore you.

**Video games:**

Act of War – An RTS game, where you're fighting against a terrorist group that are bent on becoming the one and only supplier of oil in the world… I think. It's been a while since I played it. Well, anyway, that's not important.

In that game, when one of your infantry units gets wounded badly, he'll fall and start losing health until he either gets captured or revived. He'll also shout something like, "I'm hit! And I'm losing blood!" or "Christ! I've lost half my arm!"

- I thought about that second quote and then suddenly had an idea for a story in which Zina's brother survived the hyena attack. Though if he had survived, I'd need some kind of indication that would make her think that he was dead. So I thought, why not have him lose half of **his** arm?

Splinter Cell: Double Agent – This is a game where you join a terrorist group and try to destroy them from within. There are things you can do for the government in order to keep their trust, and things you can do for the terrorists in order to maintain your cover.

- I've never played this game, but I read a lot about it and so it was part of the inspiration for this fic's premise. As well as the story's title.

Star Wars Trilogy Arcade – During the battle of Hoth, a message pops up that says, "Assist your rebel friend!" You do so by firing at a certain target area on at AT-AT walker, thereby distracting it while another snowspeeder uses its harpoon to bring the walker down. If you succeed, the walker falls and the pilot says, "Whoa, that got him!" Then another message says "Good assistance!"

- That was the inspiration for the scene in StL, where Flinchy distracts Bob while Stumpy restrains him.

Quest for Glory 4 – When you first arrive in town, the people there are all suspicious of you because a heavy swamp has the town cut off from the outside world. As a result, there have been no newcomers in years. But over time, you start winning the people over by doing heroic deeds and helping them out. After a while, you find out that the innkeepers' daughter was kidnapped and turned into a vampire. You eventually manage to find her, restore her to life, and bring her back home. After that, everyone in town loves you and sees you as a true hero.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, the swamp clears up in the end of the game so tourists are able to come to town again.

- I decided to make a subtle reference to that game in StL, by having Zina start earning the other meerkats' trust and finally win over Max, by rescuing little Gus from peril.

Resident Evil #1 – In Jill's story, there's a scene where she overhears Barry talking to Wesker. When Barry leaves the room and sees Jill, she asks who he was talking to. Barry says that age is taking its toll on him and making him talk to himself.

- I referenced the game by having Takata, Kali, and Pumbaa do a scene like that in TDA; using dialogue similar to Jill, Barry, and Wesker's lines.

**Songs:**

Somebody to Love, by Queen – This song was of course, the inspiration for the title of the previous story. But it was also the inspiration for the whole love story part, and the creation of Zina.

We Close Our Eyes, by Oingo Boingo – The following quote from this song inspired the scene in StL, where Timon first sees the reflection of Buzz, but doesn't recognize him.

"I looked Death in the face last night

I saw him in a mirror

And he simply smiled

He told me not to worry

He told me just to take my time"

Although I didn't know he was talking about Death in the song, until after I'd written most of the story.

**TV:**

Brisco County Jr. – In the pilot episode, Brisco's father (Brisco County Sr.) is murdered by an escaped gang of outlaws that he had previously apprehended. Brisco Jr., a bounty hunter, is given the job of hunting down that gang and bringing them to justice. In a later episode, his father's spirit comes back one last time, to assist him.

- This was the inspiration for the spirit of Buzz visiting Timon in StL, to give him advice and later to congratulate him on a job well done.

Meerkat Manor – In one episode, the Whiskers' gang fights off an attack by the Zappa gang. In their hasty retreat, the Zappas leave behind a pup named Axel. Mitch, a member of the Whiskers, is out foraging later on when he hears little Axel crying. Mitch then finds Axel, picks him up, and takes him back to the Whiskers' burrow, where he's adopted into the gang.

- To reference the show; or more specifically, that episode, I named Zina's father Mitch and her son Axel.

M&Ms commercial – In one commercial, Orange is complaining about how people are always eating the crispy ones until Yellow licks him. Afterwards, Red licks him. Then as Yellow is about to lick him again, Orange grabs his tongue and glares at him. Then Yellow says, "Sowwy."

- After remembering that commercial, I decided to write a scene similar to it in the chapter where Bob finds Timon unconscious and decides to taste him.

**Plays:**

Much Ado About Nothing – There are two characters, Benedick and Beatrice, who despise each other in the beginning. But later on, they each overhear staged conversations about how the other person is in love with them. And eventually, the two end up falling in love.

- This inspired the two scenes in StL, where Timon and Zina have the same thing happen to them. The difference being that Timon and Zina really do have the hots for each other when they hear the conversations, and the conversing meerkats are unaware that they're being heard by Zina/Timon.

**Movies:**

A Bug's Life – Molt, the grasshopper, was the inspiration for the creation of Bob. Molt is very talkative, a bit demented, and adds some comic relief to the movie. And I thought my story could use a character like him. Thus, Bob was created.

Last, and not least…

Shaun of the Dead – This inspiration is probably the most important one of all, because watching one of the scenes in this movie is what inspired me to write StL. Specifically, the scene where Shaun's stepfather, Phillip, is succumbing to his zombie bite wound and gives Shaun a short speech about how he always loved him.

- Looking at that scene, I pictured Timon and Max in the places of Shaun and Phillip, respectively. That's how I came up with Max's death scene; which was the very first scene I wrote. After writing that scene, I had an idea for a story in which Max would die and give control of the meerkat colony to Timon; who would then rally them to defeat an incoming threat. Although I wasn't able to write a whole lot more, until the love story part was inspired.

---

**Well, that's all there is for part 1. To see part 2, go to my profile and click on the link at the bottom.**


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